construction management

Dr Graham Brewer's research is characterised by his interest in three key areas relating to innovation: innovation by individual firms; innovation across project teams; and the sociological influences on innovation.

A recent article for Construction Management and Economics journal, for example, examines whether a better understanding of innovation processes might lead to productivity improvements. It concluded that, for construction SMEs, a development mode of innovation manifested in conscious cognitive routines
and functional/integrative organisational routines appears significant. Another paper examines the take-up of electronic information and communication technology such as web-based project management applications to mitigate the logistical challenges faced by construction firms in regional areas. It found
that the attitudes of a firm's decision makers and the firm's culture impact on ICT-mediated innovation.

Another of Dr Brewer's major areas of research interest involves the pedagogy underpinning the design and delivery of construction management courses. His interest lies particularly in employing constructive alignment – a union between constructivism and instructional design – as a conceptual
framework to drive the design and delivery of a construction management program using blended delivery mode.

Using his sociological methodology expertise, Dr Brewer was chief investigator in a team that investigated attitudes and behaviours in consumer spaces with the aim of quantifying the benefits of sustainable retail environments.

Career Summary

Biography

Dr Graham J Brewer is an Associate Professor in Construction Management at the University of Newcastle, Australia, where he was first appointed at the end of 1999. He is currently Director: Centre for Interdisciplinary Built Environment Research. Between 2010-2013 he was Deputy Head of the School of Architecture and Built Environment, and was previously Head of Discipline, Building. During this time he has undertaken various administrative roles at School, Faculty, and University level, and is currently a member of Academic Senate. Graham Brewer graduated with his Doctorate in 2008. This work embodied the characteristics of his research, which fall broadly into three categories: Innovation by individual firms. This work has taken three forms: firstly, enabling the individual firm to benchmark itself against sector-leading enterprises in terms of technology and capability; secondly, identifying strengths and weaknesses in its capability profile, and lastly; performance testing of project portal applications for fit with enterprise objectives. The first two were commercialised by the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRC-CI) and the third was undertaken as commissioned consultancy work. Innovation across project teams. The key output in this regard was a series of four Best Practice guides and a fifth companion volume published as e-books by the CRC-CI. This work attracted the attention of "Constructing Excellence" in the UK, who negotiated with the CRC-CI for inclusion of its metrics in their own benchmarking mechanism. Sociological influences on Innovation. In the wake of completing the previous two bodies of research it was apparent that there was a gulf between the stated preferences and intentions of enterprise leaders in relation to ICT and their subsequent actions. This spawned Dr Brewer's doctoral research, which looked at the attitudes and behaviours of ICT decision-makers in the AEC sector, revealing a raft of boundedly rational influences on decision-making, resulting in the first comprehensive map of the ICT decision domain. his dissertation subsequently received three research awards: Australian Institute of Building NSW President’s Award for Excellence in Research; The Chartered Institute of Building Australasia Excellent Building Postgraduate (Research) Award (PhD), and; Post Graduate Research Award: School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle. The previous three areas of excellence in research have led him to be sought out by industry leaders in order to advise on issues related to the advent of disruptive technologies such as building information modelling. Over the last two years he has undertaken commissioned research for the Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry Training Board and others in relation to disruptive innovation. As an educator the quality of Graham Brewer's teaching has been recognised with multiple nominations and awards, culminating in an Australian Learning and Teaching Council citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2008. Dr Brewer's ongoing community-based commitments include: Fellow of the Australian Institute of Building, its Professional Excellence and University Accreditation Panels;external examiner for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors: Oceania; New South Wales Board of Studies Curriculum Review Panel for the Built Environment (University Sector representative). He has participated in external reviews for multiple university departments and research centres, as well as Cooperative Research Centres.

Research ExpertiseProfessional Education: Supporting the transition to PBL Integrating and assessing the development of metacognitive skills Learning contracts Developing and assessing teamwork skills On-line delivery of undergraduate programmes ICT in the Construction Industry Benchmarking the use of IT in the construction industry Measuring the Critical Success Factors for the implementation of ICT across project teams Sustainability in the Built Environment: Design for Disassembly Urban Sustainability: ageing in place Innovative funding mechanisms for infrastructure

CollaborationsDr Graham Brewer's research is largely characterised by leadership of, or participation in collaborative research teams. During the life of the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRC-CI) he led two projects worth nearly $300,000, investigating issues associated with the uptake of ICT in the construction sector, and a further four projects worth over $160,000 also connected with the sociology of ICT uptake and knowledge management. Concurrently he led two taskforces funded by the Construction Industry Institute of Australia (CIIA), yet again investigating the softer issues associated with new technology in the sector. Graham Brewer was a Chief Investigator in a multidisciplinary team on a successful ARC Linkage Grant ($220,000) that utilised his sociological methodology expertise to investigate attitudes and behaviours in consumer spaces, with a view to quantifying the benefits of sustainable retail environments. He has also received upwards of $50,000 to develop a multimedia teaching module in collaboration with the members of his Discipline group.

Qualifications

PhD, University of Newcastle

Certificate in Further Education, Jordanhill College of Education, Scotland

Master of Science (Engineering, Design of Build), University of Paisley - Scotland

Keywords

Attitudes, behavious and project team culture

Building Information Modelling

Construction business management

Construction technology

Innovation

Post-disaster recovery and resilience

Project Procurement & Governance

Project planning

Sustainable design and building

Fields of Research

Code

Description

Percentage

120299

Building not elsewhere classified

85

090599

Civil Engineering not elsewhere classified

10

099999

Engineering not elsewhere classified

5

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title

Organisation / Department

Associate Professor

University of NewcastleSchool of Architecture and Built EnvironmentAustralia

Academic appointment

Dates

Title

Organisation / Department

1/01/1996 - 1/11/1999

Deputy Head of School

James Watt College of Further and Higher EducationSchool of ConstructionAustralia

Purpose-There has been a significant increase in the use of relationship contracting in the global construction industry, with strategies such as Partnering, Alliancing and Public... [more]

Purpose-There has been a significant increase in the use of relationship contracting in the global construction industry, with strategies such as Partnering, Alliancing and Public-Private Partnerships all used. These approaches were introduced to the Australian construction industry in the 1990s in an attempt to overcome the adversarial nature of traditional contracting methods. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence the successful implementation of Project Alliancing by means of a case study approach focusing on the procurement of a large water treatment plant. The research findings identify critical success factors (CSFs) both from literature and the case study project.

Brewer GJ, Brewer GJ, 'Evaluating the Impact of a Reinforcement Location Device on Quality and Productivity during Construction of Reinforced Blockwork Walls', The International Journal of the Constructed Environment, 4 44-51 (2014) [C1]

With populations ageing across the developed world, there is increasing interest in the impact of the urban environment on the capacity of people to age in place. This is a signif... [more]

With populations ageing across the developed world, there is increasing interest in the impact of the urban environment on the capacity of people to age in place. This is a significant issue not only for the quality of life of older people but also for the longer-term sustainability of cities and neighbourhoods. This paper presents findings from a cross-disciplinary pilot research study that addresses the link between health in older Australians and urban sustainability. The paper details a unique neighbourhood assessment method that explores associations between subjective and objective measures of neighbourhood characteristics and health for community dwelling people aged 55 years and over. The results reveal that health is a major pre-occupation for the study group but social interaction and the built environment are major influences on quality of life. It is anticipated that the pilot study will lead to the development of guidelines for the design of sustainable urban environments that respond to the health needs of an increasingly diverse ageing population.

Construction firms in regional areas face considerable challenges to their competitiveness. Logistics, availability of suitable personnel, unfamiliarity with trading partners, and the tyranny of distance conspire to obstruct profitable engagement beyond their local area. Electronic information and communication technology (ICT) such as web-based project management applications and other forms of collaborative data sharing have the potential to mitigate many of these obstacles, but have yet to gain widespread acceptance, particularly by smaller regional firms who question their cost effectiveness. The attitudes of decision-makers and the impact of their decisions on intra- and inter-firm culture lie at the heart of ICT-mediated innovation. This paper presents a case study of a specialist subcontractor located in regional New South Wales and its involvement in a New Zealand project, whose competitiveness arose from using ICT to integrate its own supply chain. It also provided additional value by triggering collaboration and integration in the broader project team. The case reveals that these outcomes were symptomatic of the organisational culture of the subcontractor, and were achieved through a combination of leadership, collaboration, flexibility and pragmatism, redolent of dynamic capabilities.

The construction sector has an important role to play in the future creation of a more resilient built environment. The restoration of and design of new community infrastructure i... [more]

The construction sector has an important role to play in the future creation of a more resilient built environment. The restoration of and design of new community infrastructure in the wake of major disasters can provide opportunities to reduce future threats and hazards in the built environment. However, there are often competing interests involved and these sociopolitical factors may result in a lack of transparency and fairness around decision-making processes. It has been previously documented that reconstruction efforts can be unduly impacted by misguided political and economic pressures to get communities 'back on their feet' quickly. Large scale disasters, particularly where there has been significant loss of life, tend to trigger intense media scrutiny and public expectation for rapid response and recovery. Particularly where there has been a large public fund-raising effort, both victims and donors often feel a stronger sense of attachment to the immediate recovery efforts in effected communities. The resulting media scrutiny and public pressure, real or perceived, on politicians to make quick decisions in relation to the reconstruction of community built infrastructure can lead to knee-jerk announcements regarding reconstruction plans that do not consider the longer-term sustainability and resilience of a community. In non-urban, or regional, communities the impact of poor political decisions can become even more pronounced. This paper will present analysis from semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders involved in the reconstruction after the 'Black Saturday' fires that occurred in regional Victoria, Australia, in early 2009.

The construction sector has an important role to play in the future creation of a more resilient built environment. The restoration of and design of new community infrastructure i... [more]

The construction sector has an important role to play in the future creation of a more resilient built environment. The restoration of and design of new community infrastructure in the wake of major disasters can provide opportunities to reduce future threats and hazards in the built environment. However, there are often competing interests involved and these sociopolitical factors may result in a lack of transparency and fairness around decision-making processes. It has been previously documented that reconstruction efforts can be unduly impacted by misguided political and economic pressures to get communities 'back on their feet' quickly. Large scale disasters, particularly where there has been significant loss of life, tend to trigger intense media scrutiny and public expectation for rapid response and recovery. Particularly where there has been a large public fund-raising effort, both victims and donors often feel a stronger sense of attachment to the immediate recovery efforts in effected communities. The resulting media scrutiny and public pressure, real or perceived, on politicians to make quick decisions in relation to the reconstruction of community built infrastructure can lead to knee-jerk announcements regarding reconstruction plans that do not consider the longer-term sustainability and resilience of a community. In non-urban, or regional, communities the impact of poor political decisions can become even more pronounced. This paper will present analysis from semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders involved in the reconstruction after the 'Black Saturday' fires that occurred in regional Victoria, Australia, in early 2009.

In the aftermath of disasters attention naturally focuses on the impacts humans experience during rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Resilient outcomes are desirable but by no means... [more]

In the aftermath of disasters attention naturally focuses on the impacts humans experience during rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Resilient outcomes are desirable but by no means guaranteed, and the consequences are usually attributed to the actions of humans. In a novel deployment this research uses an Actor Network Theory (ANT) lens to reanalyse case study data from three disaster theatres. It reveals the impact of nonhuman actants upon human actants, and their consequences for recovery efforts and resilience outcomes. In particular it exposes the potential economic retardation that food aid can inflict on fragile societies; the value of coherent policies and processes for resilient reconstruction in highly structured societies, and; the mixed blessings arising from the presence of TV cameras in disaster theatres. It concludes that using an ANT lens sensitises researchers to the influences that nonhuman actants can exert in dynamic post-disaster contexts, but that the use of purist ANT approach to solving problems within disaster theatres is not a practical proposition.

In the aftermath of disasters attention naturally focuses on the impacts humans experience during rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Resilient outcomes are desirable but by no means... [more]

In the aftermath of disasters attention naturally focuses on the impacts humans experience during rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Resilient outcomes are desirable but by no means guaranteed, and the consequences are usually attributed to the actions of humans. In a novel deployment this research uses an Actor Network Theory (ANT) lens to reanalyse case study data from three disaster theatres. It reveals the impact of nonhuman actants upon human actants, and their consequences for recovery efforts and resilience outcomes. In particular it exposes the potential economic retardation that food aid can inflict on fragile societies; the value of coherent policies and processes for resilient reconstruction in highly structured societies, and; the mixed blessings arising from the presence of TV cameras in disaster theatres. It concludes that using an ANT lens sensitises researchers to the influences that nonhuman actants can exert in dynamic post-disaster contexts, but that the use of purist ANT approach to solving problems within disaster theatres is not a practical proposition.

Trust is a key element in the project manager's toolkit, and fostering trust in a project team is often critical to the project's outcome. Literature suggests that relational proc... [more]

Trust is a key element in the project manager's toolkit, and fostering trust in a project team is often critical to the project's outcome. Literature suggests that relational procurement mechanisms underpinned by "pain-share/gain-share" principles ought to increase levels of trust between project participants as compared to traditionally procured projects, yet little related research exists. Using "trust as a phenomenon" as the philosophical point of departure the intricacies of trust formation and maintenance are explored in these contexts. A framework of trust-related personal attributes, attitudes and behaviours is used to analyse a series of 15 detailed interviews with multiple representatives from construction and client organisations. Preliminary findings identify: participants' desire for trust in projects; widespread absence of strategies for trust building, maintenance and repair; adversarial dispute resolution as the default; poor project team member selection. Widely valued traits in trading partners include open and honest communication; technical competence; fairness; integrity; honesty, and; benevolence. Where disputation has occurred trust repair skills appear to be rare. Positive pre-existing relationships are reported as the antidote for many project ills. Differences in the perception of trust variables associated with procurement context are identified: superficially surprising and counter-intuitive, they reveal pan-procurement principles for trust-based project success.

With the introduction of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) and subsequent legislative regulations throughout Australia, effective environmental management across the cons... [more]

With the introduction of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) and subsequent legislative regulations throughout Australia, effective environmental management across the construction sector should occur. In reality, construction operations continue to have detrimental environmental impacts. Within New South Wales the primary legislation governing development control, for the purpose of ESD, has produced a complex legislative system that its ability to achieve the objectives of environmental protection remains questionable. Large scale development projects may evoke need for associated environmental regulatory controls; however, such rules are generally not applicable to small and medium scale developments. Yet, these types of projects make up a significant amount of the development market and collectively a major contribution to detrimental environmental impacts. Given each construction project is unique, the application of complex regulatory controls may result in notably different levels of environmental protection between developments. Inconsistency may be seen with regulatory interpretation, implementation, monitoring and associated processes of enforcement. Using a systemic lens this research linked the efficacy of regulation, monitoring, and information flow to explain variability in the outcomes of onsite environmental management operations. The paper reports preliminary findings of a two stage qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with key project stakeholders (e.g. government regulatory officers, construction managers) and case study examination of four medium scale development projects. Using a phenomenological coding approach, preliminary analysis identified a number of themes that impact effective onsite environmental management including: environmental interpretation and assessment, compliance and enforcement, external influences, collaboration and engagement.

Brewer GJ, Gajendran T, 'Building information modelling and the culture of construction project teams: A case study', Proceedings of the International Conference on Management and Innovation for a Sustainable Built Environment MISBE2011, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2011) [E1]

Syed Zakaria SA, Brewer GJ, Gajendran T, 'Psychology in the decision making of Industrialised Building Systems (IBS): A field of application', Proceedings of the 1st Asian Conference on Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences (ACP 2011), Osaka, Japan (2011) [E1]

Brewer GJ, Gajendran T, 'A case study of the effects of attitude, behaviour, and project team culture on building information model use in a temporary project organisation', CIB W78 2010: 27th International Conference - Applications of IT in the AEC Industry. Program & Proceedings, Cairo, Egypt (2010) [E1]

Brewer GJ, Gajendran T, Beard CR, 'Influences on the adoption of BPM/BIM: An Australian perspective', Managing IT in Construction/Managing Construction for Tomorrow: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on IT in Construction & 1st International Conference on Managing Construction for Tomor, Istanbul, Turkey (2009) [E1]

Gajendran T, Brewer GJ, 'Cultural analysis for ICT integration: Case study analysis of a construction project', Managing IT in Construction/Managing Construction for Tomorrow: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on IT in Construction & 1st International Conference on Managing Construction for Tomor, Istanbul, Turkey (2009) [E1]

Conduct of a multiple perspective investigation of social and related impacts of a project conducted under the Housing Affordability Fund initiative in the suburb of Bolton Point, including authoring a report and presenting findings to Department of Housing.

Research Supervision

Current Supervision

Commenced

Research Title / Program / Supervisor Type

2015

Implications of Building Information Modelling for Business Culture in Small and Medium Sized Building and Construction EnterprisesBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentPrincipal Supervisor

2015

Towards a Conceptual Framework for the Resettlement of Populations From Hazard Prone Urban LocationsBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentCo-Supervisor

2014

The Influence of Trust in the Management of Complex Construction ProjectsBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentPrincipal Supervisor

Sustainable residential aged care: The influence of environment on carer work satisfaction and stressBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentPrincipal Supervisor

Past Supervision

Year

Research Title / Program / Supervisor Type

2015

Modification of Standardised Construction Contracts for the Adoption of Building Information Modelling: Analysing the Case of the NSW Government GC21 Construction ContractBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentPrincipal Supervisor

2014

Decision-making of Technology Adoption: The Case for Industrialised Building Systems (IBS) in The Malaysian Construction IndustryBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentCo-Supervisor

2011

The Education of Virtual Teamwork Skills in Construction Management, Building Surveying and Quantity Surveying Programs in Australian UniversitiesBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentCo-Supervisor

2006

Implementing Building Product Models: Perspectives from an Australian Construction ProjectBuilding, Faculty of Engineering and Built EnvironmentCo-Supervisor